Balthazar Jones lives in the Tower of London with his wife, Hebe, his one-hundred-eighty-one-year-old pet tortoise, and a few eccentric neighbors. Balthazar is a Beefeater. The white-hot flame of his and Hebe's love has dwindled in the few years since their son died. Their marriage is teetering on the brink of extinction, when Balthazar is unexpectedly tasked with setting up an elaborate menagerie within the Tower to house the many exotic animals given to the Queen. Life at the Tower is about to get all the more interesting.--From back cover